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Eastern Illinois (1-2, 0-0 OVC) vs. Murray State (1-2, 0-0 OVC)
O'Brien Field (10,000)   •   Charleston, Illinois
September 22, 2012   •  6:30 pm   •   TV: WEIU & OVCDigitalNetwork

THE GAME
Passing records may be shattered on Saturday night as two of the nation's most prolific passing offenses meet at O'Brien Field.  Eastern Illinois is currently ranked 5th in the nation in passing offense throwing for 354 yards per game while EIU is ranked 12th nationally in total offense and 10th in scoring offense at 40.3 points per game.  EIU leads the OVC in all three of those categories.

Murray State has been one of the OVC's top passing offenses the past two seasons and this year ranks second in the conference in passing offense at 301 yards per game.  That passing total ranks them 12th nationally in passing offense.

The two teams will be led by two of the OVC's top passers with EIU's Jimmy Garoppolo and MSU's Casey Brockman.  Garoppolo is 5th nationally in total offense while Brockman ranks 18th nationally.  Garoppolo is 4th nationally in passing yards while Brockman is 9th.

THE SERIES
Eastern Illinois holds a 14-13 all-time series lead over Murray State as the two schools will meet for the 28th time on Saturday night.  MSU has won two straight after EIU had won nine of the previous ten meetings.  This will be the first time the two schools have met in the Ohio Valley Conference opener.  The series dates back to 1946.  EIU is 9-4 against MSU at O'Brien Field.

• Erik Lora had nine catches for 112 yards on Saturday at Illinois State giving him three straight games with 100 yards receiving.  The only other receiver in EIU history to have three straight 100 yard receiving games was Calvin Pierce in 1986.

• Erik Lora's final catch of the game at Illinois State moved the junior receiver into the century club at EIU as it was his 100th career reception.  Lora needs 15 more receptions to move into the Panthers career top ten.  He has 1,176 career yards.

• Chavar Watkins was the top target on Saturday making 12 catches for 97 yards.  The 12 receptions is the second most by a Panthers receiver this season and ranks tied for the fourth highest single game total in school history.

• Jimmy Garoppolo had 61 pass attempts on Saturday at Illinois State setting the school record for pass attempts.  The previous record of 58 was held by Tony Romo and Sean Payton.  Romo had 58 attempts at Hawai'i in 2002. 

• Jimmy Garoppolo had 37 pass completions on Saturday which is the second highest number of completions in a game.  The record of 40 was set by Sean Payton in 1985 against Saginaw Valley.  Payton was 40-of-58 in that game for 509 yards.

• Jimmy Garoppolo had his second 300-yard passing game of the season and sixth of his career on Saturday finishing with 387 yards.  That total is the 11th highest passing total in school history.  Garoppolo is now fourth on the EIU list for 300-yard games.

• Converted quarterback Taylor Duncan took over at running back on Saturday at Illinois State finishing with 96 yards on 24 carries.  Duncan found the end zone three times, the first time an EIU running back has had three rushing touchdowns since last year's regular season finale at Southern Illinois (Jake Walker - 3).

• With his three rushing touchdowns on Saturday, Duncan now has four rushing touchdowns for the season and ranks second in the OVC in rushing touchdowns and third overall.  Duncan had one rushing touchdown at Northwestern last season.

• Cameron Berra, Taylor Duncan and Erik Lora all rank in the top five in the OVC in scoring and the top 50 nationally.  Berra is second in the OVC and 39th in the FCS with 25 points (8.3 per game).  Duncan and Lora are both third in the OVC and 41st in the FCS with 24 points (8 per game).

• Eastern Illinois set a school and OVC record for offensive plays in a game at Illinois State as the Panthers ran 106 snaps under center.  The previous OVC record was 102 set by Samford against Southeast Missouri in 2004.

• Eastern Illinois and Murray State could challenge the FCS record for plays in a game by individual and combined teams when they meet this Saturday.  The record for single team plays is 116 by Stephen F. Austin in 2008.  The record for combined plays is 196 set by Villanova and UConn in 1989.  Murray State already owns the FCS record for combined yards in a game between teams with 1,423 facing Missouri State in 2010.

• EIU's defense picked off a pass for the third straight game as the Panthers have four interceptions on the year.  EIU had four interceptions all of last season.

EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH DINO BABERS
A New ERA of Eastern Illinois football began on December 9, 2011 as Dino Babers was hired as the Panthers head football coach replacing 25-year veteran Bob Spoo.  Babers had been an assistant coach at EIU in 1987 as a member of Spoo's first Panthers coaching staff.  After one season as an assistant at EIU Babers moved on to coach at nine other programs, most recently as the receivers and special teams coach at Baylor.  Last season he was on an offensive staff that helped coach Robert Griffin III to the Heisman Trophy while ranking as one of the nation's most explosive offenses.  Baylor beat Washington in the Alamo Bowl as Babers coached in his 12th bowl game as a coach.  In addition to his time at Baylor, Babers has coached at UCLA, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Arizona, San Diego State, Purdue, Northern Arizona, UNLV, Eastern Illinois, Arizona State and Hawai'i.  He was the assistant head coach at UCLA while serving as the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M and Arizona.  Babers has coached numerous players who have played in the NFL including 27 wide receivers who have made NFL rosters.  A native of San Diego, Calif., Babers attended Hawai'i where he was a four-year starter (1979-80, 82-83) earning his degree in 1984.  He earned a master's from Arizona State in 1988.  EIU beat Southern Illinois 49-28 in Babers opener as the Panthers head coach.

MURRAY STATE HEAD COACH CHRIS HATCHER
  Chris Hatcher is in his third season as the head coach at Murray State having posted a 14-13 overall record with back-to-back winning seasons.  Hatcher was the Harlon Hill Award winner as a quarterback at Valdosta State before later coaching the Blazers to the 2004 Division II National Championship during a six year stint as head coach at his alma mater.  Hatcher coached three seasons at Georgia Southern before taking over at MSU.  His career record is 108-40.

SCOUTING MURRAY STATE
Murray State picked up its first win of the season on Saturday at Missouri State with a 28-23 victory.  The Racers are led by senior quarterback Casey Brockman who is ranked 18th in the nation in total offense.  He is third nationally in pass completions with 33.6 per game.  This season Brockman's top target has been Walter Powell with 28 catches for 240 yards.  MSU's defense is led by Brandon Wicks, the OVC Defensive Player of the Week, with 25 tackles.  Qua Huzzie is second on the team with 19 tackles.  MSU lost its first two games to No. 5 Florida State, 69-3, and FCS ranked No. 20 Central Arkansas 42-20.

ON THIS DATE IN EIU HISTORY
September 22, 1962 - Bob White rushed for 99 yards and scored both of Eastern Illinois touchdowns as the Panthers opened the year with a 13-0 win over Indiana State.  EIU's defense was led by Leroy Blackful as EIU limited the Sycamores to only 138 yards rushing.  EIU would not win another game the remainder of the season including being shut out in five of the next six contests.

BERRA OVC SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK
Junior kicker Cameron Berra was named the Ohio Valley Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts at Illinois State.  Berra was 3-of-3 on field goal attempts and made all six PAT's.  Berra knocked home a career long 44-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.  His 20-yard kick with time running out in the fourth quarter sent the game to overtime.  Berra hit a 40-yard field goal in the Panthers second overtime possession to complete his day.

COACHES IN CONFERENCE OPENERS
  EIU head coach Dino Babers will be looking to add his name to the list of Panthers head coaches that have won their first conference game.  The last six coaches to play in a conference have all won their first league game including Bob Spoo winning both his first Gateway Conference and Ohio Valley Conference games.  The last coach to lose in their first conference contest was Ralph Kohl back in 1957 in the Interstate Intercollegiate Conference.  EIU did not participate in a football conference from 1969-77, having two head coaches during that time period.

GAROPPOLO MOVES UP RECORD BOOK
Jimmy Garoppolo moved up two spots on the EIU career completions list and one spot on the passing attempts list and now ranks 5th all-time at EIU in both categories.  Garoppolo needs 63 yards of total offense this Saturday to pass running back Poke Cobb for fifth at EIU.  In the coming games Garoppolo will be chasing several more moves up the EIU career record book list.  Garoppolo is poised to move up in several of those categories against Murray State.

Total Offense... needs 63 yards to move into 5th
Pass Completions... needs 44 to move into 4th
Touchdown Passes... needs 2 to move into 4th


• Jimmy Garoppolo moved over the 5,000 yard passing mark for his career on Saturday at Illinois State.  The junior now has 5,264 passing yards.  Only four EIU quarterbacks have ever passed for more than 6,000 yards in their career.

• Wide receiver Chris Wright had his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass snapped at Illinois State ending the streak at eight games, the second longest in EIU history.  Wright has 24 career touchdown receptions to rank 4th at EIU.

• Chris Wright hauled in five passes for 94 yards as he moved into the EIU career top ten for receiving yards.  He now has 1,767 career yards which ranks 8th on the Panthers career list.  Eleven receivers have 1,700 or more career yards.

• With his three field goals on Saturday Cameron Berra is now 18-of-23 for his career at EIU.  The 18 made field goals moved him into a tie for 7th at EIU with Steve Kuehn.  Berra's 78.2 percent is currently the highest in EIU history.

• Cameron Berra knocked home all six of his extra point attempts on Saturday.  The junior kicker has now made 27 straight PAT's dating back the 2011 Murray State game.  For his career Berra has made 63-of-66.

• Jake Walker rushed for 39 yards at Illinois State.  Walker now has 924 career rushing yards.   He needs 76 yards to become the 25th EIU running back to pass the 1,000 yard mark for his career.  The last was Mon Williams who joined the 1,000 yard club at Illinois State in November 2010.

• Artavious Dowdell picked up his second sack of the season at Illinois State as he moved to within one sack of joining the EIU career top ten.  Dowdell has 14.5 sacks for 95 yards in his career.  At Western Michigan he moved into 10th on the EIU career tackles for loss list with 27.

• Saturday's overtime contest at Illinois State marked only the fifth time that EIU had played an overtime contest.  It matches the record for longest game in school history as EIU also played two overtimes against ISU in 2000.  EIU is now 1-4 all-time in overtime games.  The lone win was at Tennessee State in 2010.

• The 105 points on Saturday between EIU and ISU marks the highest combined game total in EIU history.  The previous best high was 102 when EIU beat Tennessee State 54-48 in 2002.

• Since joining the OVC in 1996, EIU is 12-4 in OVC openers including a 6-2 record when opening conference play at O'Brien Field.  This will be the first time EIU has faced Murray State to open the OVC season.

• Junior LeQuince McCall blocked an Illinois State field goal attempt on Saturday marking the first blocked field goal since DJ Bland blocked on last season against Austin Peay.  McCall finished the day with 10 tackles (7 solo) as he is second on the EIU team with 27 total tackles.

• Eastern Illinois will have a pair of games air on FOX College Sports this season as the Panthers play at Eastern Kentucky on Oct. 27 and host Southeast Missouri on Nov. 10.  Both games will have an 11 a.m. kick off and are part of the OVC TV package.

• Robert Haynes led the Panthers in tackles for the second time this season making 12 tackles with one interception and one pass break-up.  Haynes 31 total tackles rank him 27th in the FCS and 4th in the OVC.

• DJ Bland had a pass break-up at Illinois State as the sophomore corner leads the Panthers with four passes defended this season.  Bland ranks 32nd in the FCS and 2nd in the OVC.

• EIU's defense created a turnover for the third straight game as the Panthers rank second nationally with 11 turnovers gained.  EIU trails fellow OVC member Southeast Missouri in that category as the Redhawks lead the nation with 13 take aways.

• EIU used three different punters on Saturday with Taylor Kerr, Jimmy Garoppolo and Scott Weatherford all punting.  Kerr had a 51-yard punt in his lone kick of the year.  Garoppolo has punted four times this year pinning all four inside the 20.  Weatherford is the regular punter with a 37.1 yards per punt average.

• The Panthers bottled up one of the top FCS running attacks on Saturday at Illinois State holding the Redbirds to 60 yards rushing.  EIU's run defense is currently ranked 39th in the FCS and 3rd in the OVC.

• EIU is getting good pressure from its defensive front four as the Panthers D-Line made five of the six tackles for loss at ISU on Saturday.  For the season that unit has made 12.5 of the team's 17 tackles for loss.  Artavious Dowdell and Pat Wertz are the leaders.

• Redshirt freshman Leo Minne caught his first collegiate pass on Saturday at ISU, a 12-yard reception.  EIU has ten different receivers with at least one reception this season.